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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 120 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. A second agreement was made due to the large amount of available ________________.
  2. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  3. I had chicken pox when I was a ________________.
  4. Did you get a birthday ________________ for him this year?
  5. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.
  6. He rubbed the rust off with a ________________.
  7. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  8. When was this ________________ built?
  9. We walked down the narrow path in single ________________.
  10. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  11. Actually, the ________________ method has plenty of room for improvement.
  12. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  13. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  14. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  15. Beijing is the ________________ of China.
  16. The information is stored in a ________________ on my computer.
  17. The ________________ told me I needed to practice harder.
  18. Don't ________________ yourself. You couldn't afford to buy a house like this.
  19. We've got to handle this with ________________ gloves.
  20. Have you met the new head ________________?
  21. Is the royal ________________ prepared for the journey?
  22. My partner was ________________ at the birth of our baby.
  23. The beginning of a sentence starts with a ________________ letter.
  24. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. capital — money
  2. fork — to eat with
  3. kid — child
  4. present — a gift
  5. racket — for tennis
  6. file — a tool
  7. fork — in a road
  8. temple — a place of worship
  9. file — a line of people
  10. temple — a place of worship
  11. present — the time now
  12. racket — for tennis
  13. temple — side of the head
  14. fork — a garden tool
  15. capital — a city
  16. file — a document
  17. coach — a trainer
  18. kid — to tease
  19. kid — young goat (kid gloves)
  20. coach — a trainer
  21. coach — pulled by horses
  22. present — there
  23. capital — a big letter
  24. racket — a loud noise

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com